Somehow the entire month of October got away from me.  It might have had something to do with the Zoellner Gala.  Yeah, that happened last weekend and it consumed my life for way too long.  Luckily, we had Grandma and Grandpa as back-up babysitters, because the John had to take a trip to Kentucky right at the most inopportune time.  

We have many pictures to share from the last few weeks.  First, while we were in Boston, Gigi and Grandpa came to stay with the boys for the weekend.  There are a lot of fun pictures!

Somehow this month we've also managed to go apple picking and to go on our annual trip to Byler's Farm for the pumpkin patch!

Apple Picking:

This was Luke's first trip to Byler's Farm and so I made sure to do all the things that we on Preston's first trip, not to mention that Luke can wear the same clothes that Preston wore, and we got the same picture!  Preston was 2  months old than Luke in this picture, but Lukey is huge!  Preston loved all of the activities.  He remembered the farm from last year, and insisted on only taking the hay ride pulled by the blue tractor.  When we were feeding the goats the bad goat stole the plastic bag right out of Preston's hand.  Later in the day he asked to feed the chickens again but not the "bad goats who stole the food."  
Luke liked watching the chickens and taking in all the sights and sounds.  He was happy in the backpack for a while, but then wanted to be free.  
We also managed to buy some produce, apple cider, and pumpkins.

We carved some Pumpkins:

And Luke learned how fun it is to splash in the bathtub:

It's 8:30 and John and I are ready for bed.  We just got back from quick trip to Boston for a very fun wedding at the Boston Aquarium.  All of my siblings were in one place which happens so rarely now, that it is always special.  The boys stayed home for the weekend with Gigi and Grandpa, and also had a fun time.  We heard that Lukey was up at 5:30am for "party time," and Preston made a lot of friends at the playground each time that they went.  

After dinner Luke was feeling warm and acting lethargic so I took his temperature at a surprising 102.5.  Advil brought it down and he is sleeping soundly, but it might through yet another problem into an already logistically complicated week.  I have to run the Gala in 6 days, and John is leaving for Kentucky on wednesday, and if Luke is sick that doesn't bode well for either of our work schedules.  We are hoping that this fever is related to teething, or that it helps to suppress any infection or cold that he may have.   Either way we might be looking at a trip to the pediatrician.

Tonight I read Preston a story called "The Frog and the Mouse."  It is written and illustrated as a book, but the words are a song.  The music was published on the back page.  As I sat there trying to sight read the song (umm... I am SO rusty, but I figured it out), Preston says "Hey Mommy, look those are the same" and proceeded to point to 3 sections of the song that are indeed the same:

All I can say is.... what have we gotten ourselves into!?  

From Luke:

Before we even made it out the door this morning I needed a complete wardrobe change.  It all happened when Mom and Dad were trying to get us packed up for daycare.  Mom left me to explore on the kitchen floor.  First, I found the din-din in the pantry and I crinkled the bag for a while.  Then I made my way over to where the kitties were eating their din-din.  They vacated the area to watch me from a safe distance.  Horrified, they looked on as I stuck my hand in their food dishes and swished the little bits of din-din around.  Then I grabbed the edge of the food dish and started dragging it across the floor and banging it around.  Now, at this point, you might wonder why my parents hadn't yet intercepted.  That's a really good question, because they knew exactly what I was doing.  I guess they just weren't too concerned.  But that is when I discovered the water pitcher for the kitties.  Mom can only guess as to what really happened, imagining that I stuck my hand in the water to splash around for a short second before completely tipping over the water jug.  She found me on all 4s, drenched.  The trouble has begun.  
My wardrobe change was swift while Daddy cleaned up the mess downstairs, and then we were on our way to school.  

I also had my first haircut last night.  Mommy chopped off my rat tail.  It was getting stuck in the velcro in my bibs, and pulled when she would try to take my clothes off.  It was cute, but it had to go.  And now it is taped into my baby book, so it will live on.

Preston:

I went on a train adventure with Grandpa on Sunday.  He has a little write up and some pictures that we can share on here.  I told Mommy that I wanted to share my model trains with my friends at school.  I don’t have any model trains, yet, but maybe she will get the hint.  The P&X does need model trains.  

"Preston and Grandpa took a scenic drive through Berks County to visit the Laurel Run Railroad near Reading.  The train is operated by the Reading Society of Model Engineers.  We had two different trains to ride on - the 15" gage Laurel Run Railroad, and the 7-1/4" gage Light Rail line.  We also spent so time in their clubhouse, where we enjoyed watching / chasing on foot the O-gage trains that were running today.   Lots of things to do and see and enjoy at RSME today!"

Mommy thinks it is fascinating that I have really been working on my “r” sounds lately.  So much so that it is very noticeable.  Suddenly I say words like car, cart, corn, shirt, etc, with a very deliberate “r” sound – like a pirate.  Mom and Dad encourage me to practice my pronunciation, but most of the time I just practice on my own.  

I also have the longest streak of green-green days at school on record.  I am SO good at school.  I get glowing reports from my teachers that I am a good helper, nice to my friends, and great listener.  Mommy and Daddy are always so proud of me!  

Incidentally, Lukey has been a really good boy at school lately, too.  He doesn’t fuss much, eats all his food, plays with the toys, and naps regularly.  It’s one thing that, thankfully, Mom doesn't need to worry about.  We have parent teacher conferences coming up, so hopefully we’ll have more to share about that.

Luke:

I suppose I have mentioned this before, but I have completely turned a corner at daycare.  What’s funny is that back when I was a mess at daycare, and Mom was so stressed out, she knew that there would come a day when the bad times were distant history.  And here we are.  

I’m really starting to get around.  Dad put up the baby gate that goes to the basement, just as a precaution, and all it has done so far is act as a kitty blockade.   Poor Jack and Susie are going to have to get used to having baby gates again.  

I am so close to being able to get myself into a sitting position from a crawling position.  Mom really thought I would have had it figured out by now, but I’ve got better things to do.  

Mom and Dad think that I am a MUCH calmer baby than Preston was.  I am usually happy to just hang out in my jumpy-jump or my high chair, and if they put me down on the floor I’ll either sit and watch the chaos around me, or I’ll noodle my way around until I find something to play with.  Preston required CONSTANT entertainment when he was my age.  

I’m starting to love food.  I’m still not good at swallowing cheerios or other snacks, but I love purees, and just this week I have discovered yogurt.  That stuff is delicious!  I am, however, all over the place when it comes to my feelings on drinking a bottle.  I drink about 10ozs of milk from a bottle at daycare, but when I am home I am just NOT interested.  Daddy tried to give me a bottle on Sunday afternoon, and I just wasn’t having it, and Fiona tried to give me a bottle, too, with no success.  I love to nurse; what else can I say?  It makes Mom a little crazy, because she doesn’t know how much to pump at work, but so far we have been fine by just winging it.  It’s a completely different relationship than the one she had with Preston.  He used to by very consistent with his bottles.  5-6ozs every 3 and a half hours.  She knew exactly how much to pump each day.  The good news is that she is consistently able to pump more each day than I drink, so we will be fine.

I’m normally and awesome sleeper, but last night I woke up a bunch of times.  Mom and Dad were not happy about that.  Tonight they have a better game plan to keep the humidifier running in my room.  They think I might be getting too cold and that will help to keep my toasty, since I kick off my blankets.  Either way, it’s high time I start sleeping through the night!  I’m totally capable.